Trafic (1971)

Jacques Tati is one of those rare undiscovered gems of foreign cinema who brings so much light and joy to those in the know, but simply flies under the radar by most of the rest of the film watching world. It saddens me to know there are powerhouses like Charlie Chaplin and Federico Fellini who are practically household names in the world of cinema, but a director like Tati, who has created beautiful works of extreme originality is only known (outside of France) to those who make a career out of knowing people just like him. He is one of my absolute favorite directors, and Trafic, though not his best film, encapsulates everything that there is to love about his work, and his alter ego.

Tati directed only five feature-length films, four of which he donned the caps of writer, director, and star. His alter persona, M. Hulot, is the Mr. Bean equivalent of France, but unlike Rowan Atkinson's clownish brilliance, Tati makes his mark as the creator of amazing, large scale sight gags, each done with absolute precision and almost divine execution. M. Hulot, with his tweed coat, umbrella, hat, pipe in mouth, is a little old man who inadvertently causes mayhem wherever he goes. He first appeared in Les vecances de Monsieur Hulot and since then has battled the modernizing world and all of the technical gadgetry that has come along with development.

In his latest outing, M. Hulot and his team of automobile designers try to bring their new "Camping Car" to Amsterdam where they will present it at an auto show along with 500 other designs. Hulot is the chief designer of the oddest and most miraculous of station wagons that the world has ever known, and most assuredly would be a huge success at the show. But getting it to Amsterdam becomes a series of unfortunate events in what turns out to be Tati's hilarious interpretation of the road trip movie. There are troubles with the truck that is hauling the car, they run out of gas, are pulled over by the cops, get into a car crash, suffer a flat tire, and all of the other little things that happen to car drivers in day to day situations.

Tati does what he always does, and that is he makes a film for the everyman. He makes a movie for the road ragers, the closet nose pickers, everyone who has dropped something in their lap and swerved while trying to pick it up, or gotten honked at for daydreaming when the streetlight finally turns green. Tati is such a favorite of mine because he sees the hilarity in things that we take for granted. Comedy is the firstborn of commonsense. He knows how the world functions, or should function in any case. It should work like the well oiled machines in the factory line where M. Hulot works. It should look like the sees of identical blue cars in the parking lot at the auto convention. But Tati knows better. He creates simple ironies like a owner of a car manufacture not being able to get his car to start, or the posh American girl who stows her hats where she should stow her spare tire.

Tati has such a joyous view on life, and takes pleasure at the smallest oddities. The movie has no message, none of his films do. He simply wants his audience to take the time to watch and to observe as he does. I feel like I do that, but not merely to the extent that he does, and it makes me smile when I do see the quirkiness in events that I might normally overlook.

This is not necessarily a laugh-out-loud type of movie--he is not that kind of director. You chuckle on the inside when you watch his films. But there are indeed moments when I laughed really, really hard. Halfway in there is a Rube Goldberg style car crash involving about a dozen cars, and afterwards everyone in the cars get  out and start doing a bunch of ridiculous stretches to get the kinks out of their joints. How clever is that? Seeing twenty people of all shapes and sizes doing the exact same goofy stunts...it's just hilarious. He also has a really amusing ongoing joke about a gas station that gives you a receipt as well marble bust of an historical figure when you shop there. How does one think of something like that? I love it.

Unfortunately this movie was not so much about the antics of M. Hulot, unlike his other movies. His bumbling character really is someone like Mr. Bean in that I see him as an old friend. He is kind, and will go out of his way to help you--even if he leaves a trail of carnage in his wake. That said, all of his movies are really bright, uplifting, and bemusing experiences. Trafic can bring a smile to anyone's face, and I would advise everyone to introduce themselves to my very good friend.

3.5/4